ONTARIO, Ohio — Mason Goodwin and Paul Homan kept Ontario in the hunt for the Northern Ohio League championship Friday afternoon.
Goodwin gave up four hits in six-plus innings and Homan worked out of a seventh-inning jam to pick up the save as the Warriors held on for a 4-2 win over Shelby.
The Warriors improved to 14-4 overall and 7-3 in the NOL, a game behind front-running Bellevue. With home league games against Tiffin Columbian on Monday and Norwalk on Thursday, Ontario is still in position to defend its NOL title.
“Earlier in the year there were a lot of games we were losing that we weren’t making plays,” Ontario coach Dan Gorbett said. “That’s been a big change for us in the last 10 days, we’re making plays in the clutch.”
None was bigger than the one Homan made in the top of the seventh. With one out and men at first and third, Homan threw a pitch that eluded catcher Taylor Komives. Homan was late leaving the mound as the Shelby runner broke toward home. Homan, the ball and the Shelby runner arrived at the plate at the same time, but Homan applied the tag for the second out of the inning. He then induced a flyout to center to end the game.
“He made a great athletic play,” Gorbett said.
No Worries: Homan came on with the bases loaded and nobody out in the seventh. Goodwin, who surrendered just two hits through the first six innings, gave up an infield hit to Darien Payne and an opposite field flare to Alex paulo before Nate Sayre reached on an error
“They didn’t hit it hard, but they put it in the right places,” Goodwin said. “I have confidence in Paul. He’s a great pitcher. I knew he’s come in and finish it out.”
Goodwin struck out seven and walked one to earn the win. Consistently working ahead in the count, he gave up a run in the third but retired seven straight before encountering trouble in the seventh.
“[Getting ahead] is huge because then you can work with your off-speed,” Goodwin said. “You can work with any pitch you want.”
Opportunistic Ontario: The Warriors scored three runs in the second off Shelby starter Dillon Thornsberry. Ridge Jackson and Aaron Baker walked and Komives singled to left to load the bases. The return throw to the infield skipped away from Shelby third baseman Mason Wells, allowing Jackson to score. Mitchell Zahn followed with a run-scoring groundout before Luke Gorbett slapped an opposite-field RBI single.
“I thought we hit the ball hard, but right at them,” Gorbett said. “In that one inning the bottom of the order came through for us.”
Ontario added an insurance run in the sixth when Jackson laced a lead-off double and moved to third on a wild pitch. Baker then hit a ball to third and Jackson was hung up n a run-down. He was able to score on a Shelby throwing error to give the Warriors a 4-1 lead.
“That ended up being an important run,” Gorbett said.
Not Without a Fight: Facing a 4-1 deficit, the Whippets (11-7) refused to go quietly in the seventh.
“That is the heart of the team,” Shelby coach Jon Amicone said. “As a coach, that is all you can ask for.”
Thornsberry surrendered six hits and struck out six. Payne had two of Shelby’s four hits.
